1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for the trimerization of α-olefins of 3 or more carbon atoms by reacting an α-olefin or a hydrocarbon mixture which contains α-olefins at from 0 to 150° C. and from 1 to 200 bar in the presence of a catalyst.
2. Description of the Background
The present invention furthermore relates to the trimers thus obtainable, the alkanes obtainable by the trimers by hydrogenation, the oxo alcohols obtainable from the trimers, the plasticizers and surfactants obtainable from the oxo alcohols, and lubricants and fuel additives which contain the trimers and/or the alkanes.
Olefin trimers of up to 30 carbon atoms are of considerable economic importance as copolymers for plastics or as intermediates for oxo alcohols, the latter in turn being components of surfactants and plasticizers for plastics. Lubricants and fuel additives constitute a further field of use for such trimers. In the integrated product system of the chemical industry, trimerization processes are therefore a key step from industrial olefin streams which originate, for example, from the steam crackers to products of daily use.
Makromol. Chem., Rapid Communic. 13 (1992), 277 and organometallics 12 (1993), 4473 disclose that ethene and propene can be polymerized in the presence of the catalyst system comprising B(C6F5)3 and Cp′MR3 (Cp′=C5H5 or C5Me5, M=Ti or Zr, R=Me or CH2Ph).
Furthermore, Organometallics 15 (1996), 693, J. Organomet. Chem. 548 (1997), 23, Macromolecules 28 (1995), 8021 and J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun. (1995), 1065 disclose the use of the catalyst system comprising η5-C5Me5TiMe3 and B(C6F5)3 in the polymerization of olefins and styrene and of isobutene.
J. Organomet. Chem. 592 (1999), 84-94 describes the use of complexes of the type (η5-C5H4R)TiCl3 where R═CMe2Ph, CMe2CH2Ph, SiMe2Ph, CHPh2), (η5-C5H4CMe2CH2Ph)ZrCl3·dme and (η5-C5H4CHPh2)Ti(CH2Ph)3 in the polymerization of propene.
Macromolecules 33 (2000), 2807-2814 and Angew. Chem. 112 No. 23 (2000), 4519-4521 reports that the system [C5Me5TiMe3]/B(C6F5)3 catalyzes the cotrimerization of two ethene molecules with one styrene molecule, whereas the trimerization of an α-olefin as such is not possible therewith.
The catalyst system comprising η5-C5Me5TiMe3 and B(C6F5)3 is also used, according to Macromolecules 32 (1999), 4491-4493, in the specific preparation of butyl-branched polyethylenes starting from ethene. 1-Hexene is observed as a byproduct there.
Angew. Chem. 113 No. 13 (2001), 2584-2587 discloses that [(η5-C5H4CMe3)TiCl3]/methylaluminoxane is a polymerization catalyst whereas [(η5-C5H4CMe2phenyl)TiCl3]/methylaluminoxane is a catalyst for the trimerization of ethene to 1-hexene.
However, the trimerization results achieved by means of the known processes on α-olefins of 3 or more carbon atoms are not yet satisfactory.